NCIS: LA didn’t wait long to dive right into the Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) and Kensi (Daniela Ruah) drama, and in this week’s episode adds more fuel to the will-they-or-won’t-they fire. While Hetty’s (Linda Hunt) getting grilled in Washington, D.C., the Department of Justice comes to LA to question the team in the form of Under the Dome’s Aisha Hinds, who rattles the usually unshakeable Kensi.

“She takes the bait and goes to an emotional place, because they’re essentially drilling her about Jack and about her role in Afghanistan and why specifically she was used,” Olsen tells EW.

After the interview, Kensi and Deeks will share a rare heart to heart—a scene Olsen says is one of his favorite Densi moments ever. “She has this incredible art of self-preservation and the biggest walls because of her failed childhood—same with Deeks, too,” he says. “So when these self-defense mechanisms crumble, which they do in this scene, the result is the most honest and kind of heart-breaking conversation that we have for these characters. It gets to a very real place.”

The duo will get a chance to work through their emotions physically, too. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) They have an intense sparring scene, which they filmed on a day when they didn’t have stunt doubles, so both Olsen and Ruah ended up black and blue. “It ends up with me on the ground and her on top of me landing a series of jabs while I talk smack about her being a pole dancer,” Olsen says.

Emotional and literal fighting aside, will we ever find out what’s in that box? You know, the one that Kensi gave Deeks for his birthday, but when he finally opened it, inside was… another box. Apparently, it will come back into play this season. “The only person that knows what’s in there is [Executive Producer] Shane Brennan, so I am as emotionally invested as everyone else,” Olsen teases, after describing an elaborate late-night plan to break into the studio in ninja gear to try to reveal the secret. “Because I want to know what’s inside the box!”

NCIS: LA airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on CBS.

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Big changes are coming for Densi on NCIS: Los Angeles Season 6 Episode 2.

Series creator Shane Brennan teased it recently in an exclusive interview, so we thought we should talk to one of the players involved in the Deeks/Kensi relationship.

What did Eric Christian Olsen tell us about what we’re going to see and how audiences will probably look at the relationship differently moving forward? And just how will Deeks fold into Hetty’s interrogation story and, also, the tough, competitive Monday time slot. Let’s see what one of our favorite actors had to say…
Kensi and Deeks Have A Moment – NCIS: Los Angeles

TV Fanatic: I talked to Shane Brennan recently and he made it sound like some big steps are being taken forward for Densi. Would you say that that’s accurate?

Eric Christian Olsen: Yeah, I think that as the pieces fall on the floor and the person that you chose to put them back together with ended up playing the most kind of pivotal role in whatever that recovery is. I know that she’s obviously still suffering from what happened to her in Afghanistan. The body reacts in really bizarre, interesting ways [due to] traumatic experiences. Deeks went through that and I think Kensi is going through her version of that, and it comes in waves, it comes in flashes.

I think we have one of those moments where Kensi’s character in a very typical Kensi way, she tries to fight it. But they end up having this kind of conversation about it and it’s one of my favorite scenes that we’ve done so far about their relationship, about navigating the walls of her defense.

I think one of the most powerful tools in her toolbox is the art of self-preservation and she uses that a lot when things get too painful or too emotional. To deal with kind of thinking step by step is learning how to navigate those with her and there’s a really amazing scene that capitalizes on that.

TVF: How was it to shoot that scene because I’m guessing even as actors they are scenes that you guys have been kind of itching to play. Is that accurate?

ECO: I think you’re always itching to play those scenes, and I think the beauty of a show like ours, though, is unlike, you know, family dramas where this happens every single week, the backbone of the show, is because we’re inherently a show about NCIS and about all these crimes, and about these scenes that you get them once every seven episodes or so, you maybe get these juicy moments that are about characters, and they’re about the emotion of the characters. And so, yeah, we loved getting those, and it’s so fun to do them, because first off Dani is phenomenal. She’s a great actress.

I don’t know how other actors work, but it’s like watching Lebron [James] when he’s having one of those games where he scores 63 points. It just happens. And all of a sudden, you’re just like, “That’s it. That’s the take.” It’s so honest. It’s so heartbreaking, so real. And that’s kind of my way to look at all the scenes, especially dealing with my own acting and Dani does it too, if you never feel as if you’re being dishonest then the moments aren’t honest then you’ve got to go again. These moments in this scene are so heartbreaking and so honest and they’re one of my favorites so far.

TVF: Did you feel challenged differently, with these scenes than maybe what you’ve done in the past?

ECO: Yeah, because the stakes are always higher. Like when you go to these scenes in life, the repercussions if it goes wrong, you know, you’re out there and you’re putting yourself out there. When you do a scene like this, it’s the same place, because you’re asking your actors to go to this place and if any fraction of that is false, I think we as an audience detach from it. That’s the great thing about Dani and this scene is they are nothing but honest and seamless, which is what I like to call that kind of acting.

TVF: Would you predict the audience might look at these characters differently after what we see in this next episode?

ECO: Yeah, I think they look at the relationship a different way. I think we have a general idea, kind of who these characters are. I think that Shane and Scott and Frank and all these guys have done such an amazing job with the slow reveal of these characters. One of the things I love most about them as writers is that it comes in the most surprising ways. We get to these places in the most surprising paths. And with this it’s the same thing.

You know, these two characters especially, makes these turns on a dime. In one minute there’s anger and then there’s comedy and then there’s honesty, and there’s heartbreak. And I think that’s what’s true about any character, and that’s what’s true about life, really, the relationships.

TVF: I know in the episode there’s something going on with Hetty and the case this week. How does your character fold into either one of those story threads?

ECO: I think it’s kind of the best version. My favorite kind of version of storytelling for our show, which is that there’s, instead of an A story and a B story, there’s about four stories. And Hetty has been taken by the DOJ, Department of Justice, and is being kind of grilled for her role in Afghanistan about the white ghost, about Kensi and there’s a cover-up and they want to know where the money came from. So, she’s really being grilled, and in the meantime, someone has bought personal information about Hetty because they’re coming for her.

So, we’re tracking that down, you’re dealing with Kensi and her own kind of struggle with what happened in Afghanistan and her past, and relationship. It’s a really incredibly, layered is the B-minus word, but there is a, there’s a lot of interwoven plot line in this episode. It’s a really good episode.

TVF: From talking to Shane and now listening to you, it sounds like things are definitely more emotional this season than what we’ve seen in the past. Would you say that’s true?

ECO: I think we’re at episode seven now. We’ve done seven, rising tension, emotional, high-action episodes. We haven’t had a dud yet and sometimes an episode doesn’t work out, but so far, everybody’s brought their A game. I think moving to Monday night at 10 o’clock, is kind of a rally cry for everyone. We’re all in. The ante has been upped. The most competitive hour of scripted television in that time slot on TV. You’ve got Blacklist. You’ve got Castle, not to mention Monday night football. So, I think everybody’s stepping up their game.

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 6 airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

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NCIS: Los Angeles’ Hetty is going to lend the Scorpion guys a hand later this month, and EW has the exclusive first look.

Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel) and his team will enlist Linda Hunt’s NCIS: LA character when a lead on an upcoming case tracking down a priceless painting takes them to a Halloween party and they need her expertise to go undercover and infiltrate the event. The crossover episode of Scorpion is slated to air in late October around the spooky holiday.

Scorpion airs Mondays at 9 p.m., followed by NCIS: LA at 10 p.m. on CBS.

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On Monday’s NCIS: Los Angeles, Kensi’s (Daniela Ruah) time in Afghanistan will have tough consequences for Hetty (Linda Hunt), who is sent to Washington, D.C., for a hearing about her handling of the White Ghost mission.

But while Hetty deals with the more immediate fallout, the Afghanistan experience will also have repercussions for Kensi, though they may be less overtly apparent. On theOct. 13 episode, Kensi opens up to Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) about her time there, in a scene Olsen describes as one of his favorite Densi moments of the entire series.

“One of Kensi’s skills is her art of self-preservation that she’s mastered throughout kind of a terrible childhood, which is very similar to what Deeks went through,” Olsen tells TVGuide.com. “The tragic events that happened in Afghanistan for her, she’s fighting so hard to kind of not deal with those things and to try forget those things. And she has a very honest and revealing conversation with Deeks about her kind of inability to do so, to navigate what it is that’s happening in her own head.”

So, in the never-ending will-they-or-won’t-they drama between Kensi and Deeks, will the White Ghost mission and its aftermath bring them closer together, or just put up another barrier between them?

“It’s easy to be friends with people and to love people when everything’s good,” Olsen says. “It’s when things fall to pieces and we have to put them back together, and the people that we choose to put them back together with, that matter the most. And that’s kind of what Deeks and Kensi have become for each other. I think that’s part of the definition of a great relationship. … There’s anger and there’s comedy and there’s humor and there’s a flash of honesty and then the gate’s wide open. … It’s the ones with the highest walls that, when they come down, come down in the most kind of glorious way.”

Both Kensi and Deeks find themselves confronting issues from their pasts that they’d rather set aside and ignore. “It’s a really good season with really great back story to watch these characters come together, fall apart, come together, fall apart,” according to Olsen.

Here are four more teases about what lies ahead for NCIS: Los Angeles.

1. An unexpected friendship?: Deeks is taking some sort of perverse pleasure in watching the tension between Kensi and Talia (Mercedes Masohn), Olsen admits. Kensi’s response to Deeks’ flirtation with Talia (whom Olsen calls “Kensi 2.0”) is “a true only child reaction,” Olsen says. “‘He may not be mine, but he sure as hell ain’t yours.’ It’s a really interesting 8-year-old girl version of herself. And then she hates herself for going there. They’re all honest emotions that they’re exploring, which makes it so fun for Deeks to watch. And Deeks really enjoys this lunacy that he’s the catalyst for.” But that may change once Kensi and Talia start to form a bond. “The second that they kind of find a friendship and common ground, then he’s like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. I wasn’t planning on this. I don’t like this at all,'” according to Olsen.

2. Ray’s back — and so is Max Gentry. Deeks’ childhood friend, Ray (Channon Roe), will be back later this season, Olsen confirms, and his return will force Deeks to reexamine his alias Max Gentry. “Max is an interesting and dark place for Deeks to go, and I think that — like all [aliases] — is a version of himself that he decided not to be,” Olsen says. “It’s a little too real and taps a little bit too deeply and honestly into his own childhood.”

3. Deeks’ daddy issues: Through the Ray arc, viewers will learn more about Deeks’ backstory and less-than-ideal upbringing. “Deeks has spent kind of his whole life running from his dad and what his dad represents in his life,” Olsen says. “Every time Ray comes back, he’s confronted with not only Ray but with the person that he could have been if he would have continued the cycle that his father kind of instilled in him.”

4. NCIS: LAPD? Though details are scarce, we do know that Deeks will return to the LAPD at some point this season. “We don’t know why he’s sent back to LAPD, we don’t know what the fallout is, but my guess is that as we continue with the fever pitch that is Kensi and Deeks that that probably plays a pretty large role in it,” Olsen teases.

NCIS: Los Angeles airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

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THE NCIS: LA TEAM DESPERATELY SEARCHES THE CITY FOR SOMEONE WHO IS TARGETING ONE OF THEIR OWN, AND OPERATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST NATE GETZ VISITS NELL AFTER HER TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE, ON “NCIS: LOS ANGELES,” MONDAY, OCT. 20

Peter Cambor Returns as Operational Psychologist Nate Getz and

Gerald McRaney (“Jericho”) Guest Stars as a Retired Navy Admiral

“The 3rd Choir” – When the NCIS: LA team learns that someone from their past is targeting one of their own, they desperately search the city. Meanwhile, Operational Psychologist Nate Getz visits Nell to help her through her traumatic experience, on NCIS: LOS ANGELES, Monday, Oct. 20 (9:59-11:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Peter Cambor returns as Operational Psychologist Nate Getz and Gerald McRaney (“Jericho”) guest stars as a retired Navy admiral.

CHEAT TWEET: The #NCISLA team searches the city 4 someone from their past & #NateGetz (@petercambor) returns 2 help Nell 10/20 9:59pm

This weeks Performance of the Week is the entire cast of NCISLA. Not just saying that because it’s the season premiere, but because they all brought something in that made the premiere what it was. Throughout the whole episode it was split into three groups. Sam and Callen in the Sub, Kensi and Deeks with Talia looking for clues to help Callen and Sam, and then there was Granger, Eric, Nell and Hetty. Each actor and character put you right there in the moment of the scene, so you knew and understood what was going on. Also that you knew how worse things were getting by the minute.

Kensi and Deeks doing whatever they can on the ground to figure out what is going on. Deeks talking to the suspect using what he knows and does best to get the guy to talk. His quick wit and his ability to use the objects and things around him to get the information he wants. When he and Kensi are in the Chinese restaurant posing as the couple looking for a place for their wedding reception, he is able to bring his humor and jokes to make the part real. We all know who Deeks is and one of his many layers is that he’s comical and loves to joke around. There is a moment that also happens when he’s talking to the suspect that Deeks is able to go from joking to serious in seconds. The way Eric plays that and how he makes Deeks come down in those seconds is beautifully done. One of the many things to love about Eric and the choices he makes when it comes to Deeks.

With Kensi she is kind of in three different directions. She’s got this whole Talia stay away from my man, but I’m not going to admit that he’s my man. The “cat fight” or rather moment between Kensi and Talia where they get a few punches in at each other. Kensi not apologizing and don’t know why I love it, but the fact that Talia is like ‘not accepting your apology’ and Kensi going ‘not giving you one’, was just kind of awesome. Some how this ends up bonding the two in the end. Honestly rather Kensi and Talia as friends then enemies. Deeks just better watch out, because this is going to be nothing but trouble. This leads us to our final moment, yes I am missing some moments, but this one deserves the mention. The helicopter scene. The moment everyone thinks Sam and Callen are dead and Deeks just goes and reaches for Kensi’s hand and she reaches back. Whiter it’s actually written that he takes her hand or they share a moment as they realize their friends are dead. Something about that moment just spoke volumes with these two characters. I love how Deeks reaches for Kensi’s hand in this moment. In that moment they are comforting each other and nothing else is needed to go along with the holding of their hands.

Moving on to Eric, Nell, Granger and Hetty. Each time the show came back to them something worse is found out and the less they can do about it. In the beginning with Hetty not there to help them or guide them they feel a little lost. They do have Granger, but you can tell it’s not the same. You can almost get this sense that Granger isn’t sure what to do, because the more they know the less they can do. This is frustrating him, because he wants to be able to help and he wants to bring Sam and Callen home, but there is only so much that can be done. Nell and Eric are feeling that because they are working hard and faster to try and get what they can, but it’s just not enough. At one point it seems as if Eric wants to tell Granger, ‘I’m doing the best I can,’ or just snap back at him. When Hetty comes back, you think she knows what to do and she can save them. She ends up really saying, I’ve got nothing. You see that in the moment between her and Eric were he tells her about the Navy is ready to destroy the sub. He asks her ‘what can we do?’ and she responds ‘pray. Loud and hard.’ This is the moment you realize there is nothing they can do and while they will still try to do everything and anything it isn’t going to matter. The way Miguel, Barrett, Renee and Linda play these scenes you can feel their panic, their worry, their desperate need to help their friends.

Now to inside the sub with Callen and Sam. Maybe that should be a new spin-off? What was to be loved most about the Sam and Callen scenes is that it’s just Sam and Callen. Sam and Callen don’t get many episodes where they are together through out the whole episode. It was nice to get to see the partnership that is Sam and Callen. They had to relay on what they had and what they know. It brought fourth all the great qualities that Sam and Callen have as characters. They were out of their element and they had to think on their feet. They were also able to keep that banter they do so well. Even though they were in this situation they were still able to tease each other and keep an up beat attitude. Which was surprising when they realized that they were going to have to sink the sub and making sure the Navy pinged them so the sub could be blown up, even if it meant they died as a result. The fact that they didn’t give dying to stop the sub from blowing up it’s target a second thought, was something that shows that they are committed to their jobs. They knew the risks of being an NCIS Agent and are willing to save millions over themselves. Now I know Sam was a Navy Seal, but the point I’m making is that the episode could have easily been we’re getting out of here, we’re going home. It’s also something that isn’t brought up in a lot of the episodes, because it’s known. It’s still nice when it is mentioned. Just watching LL Cool J and Chris play these scenes, you can get lost in them.

All these different moments throughout the episode, as corny as it sounds, made the episode. It balanced out the show, so you got to see how each character was dealing with what was going on. While you could pick out one character or actor who stood out, you don’t want to because they all had stand out moments.